Congress leader and Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi will contest the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from Uttar Pradesh’s Amethi, newly appointed President of the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee, Ajay Rai, confirmed on Friday.
This decision sets the stage for a significant electoral battle as Rahul Gandhi’s candidacy places him in direct competition with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Union minister Smriti Irani.
Notably, Smriti Irani defeated Rahul Gandhi in Amethi, once a Congress stronghold, by a margin of around 55,000 votes in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Amethi Lok Sabha constituency was once a Gandhi family pocket-borough, from where Rahul Gandhi had been contesting elections since 2004, when his mother Sonia Gandhi vacated the seat for him.
Rahul Gandhi contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from the Amethi and Wayanad Lok Sabha constituencies and subsequently became the MP from Wayanad after losing to Smriti Irani in Amethi.
‘IF PRIYANKA CONTESTS FROM VARANASI…’: AJAY RAI
Ajay Rai also indicated that if Priyanka Gandhi decides to contest from Varanasi seat against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, every worker of the Congress party will work to ensure her victory.
Even in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, it was speculated that Priyanka Gandhi may contest from Varanasi, challenging PM Modi, but Congress fielded Ajay Rai from the seat at the last moment. Even in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Ajay Rai contested from Varanasi and lost to Narendra Modi.
Ajay Rai’s remarks came days after Priyanka Gandhi’s husband, Robert Vadra, dropped hints of the possibility of the Gandhi scion entering electoral politics.
“She (Priyanka should be in Lok Sabha for sure. She has all the qualifications for it. She would be very good in Parliament and she deserves to be there. I hope that the Congress party accepts and plans better for her,” Robert Vadra had said while speaking to news agency PTI.